Family involved in deadly Herrington Lake boat crash files lawsuit against boater
Aug 17, 2026
The family involved in a July 4 boat crash on Herrington Lake that left one man dead has filed a lawsuit against the driver of another boat involved in the collision, documents filed Monday in Mercer County Circuit Court reveal.
According to those documents, the attorney representing Antonina Svintozelskaya and Andrew and Lina Fomin have filed the lawsuit on behalf of the families and multiple children involved in the collision.The lawsuit alleges that on July 4, the Svintozelskaya and Fomin families were stationary in a pontoon boat on Herrington Lake at the time of the collision.The suit goes on to argue that Cody Casey, a Mercer County resident, was driving a 2017 Axis watercraft leading up to the time of the collision, driving "in a reckless and dangerous manner by driving at an excessive rate of speed, performing repeated 'donuts' and other erratic maneuvers in close proximity to boaters on a crowded Herrington Lake during a busy holiday weekend."Casey has not been charged in the incident. Monday he declined to comment when contacted by LEX NEWS.Casey's boat then allegedly struck the pontoon boat head-on, "causing catastrophic damage to the pontoon boat and violently impacting and throwing its occupants about the watercraft and into the water."He then fled the scene of the collision without rendering aid, the suit alleges."You can't just run from the scene," attorney Justin Peterson said. "You can't be towed from the scene. You can't go away and leave injured victims reeling. And in this particular case, I am mindful of the fact that there was a drowning and what could have been done to prevent that drowning from happening."The lawsuit is seeking counts of negligence, gross negligence, failure to render aid, and punitive damages. It is not seeking damages in connection to the death of 25-year-old Nazar Svintozelskiy.
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